Today we’d like to introduce you to Judy Nordseth.
Judy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My business started 30 years ago, shortly after my adorable son and twin girls were born. I was obsessed with taking cute pictures of them and my camera shutter was flying! When I sent out he annual photo Christmas cards my friends loved them and started asking if I would photograph their children. I had always loved taking pictures, but this was the first time that I realized that other people enjoyed my pictures too. This encouraged me to start a part time photography business and actually get paid for my favorite hobby.
I was able to start my business by offering to photograph my kids’ soccer teams and pre-school and named the company Tot Shots. I quickly realized that I wanted to do more than just photograph children, and changed the name to Judy Nordseth Photography by the time I made it a full-time business one year later. I found a retail location, hired my first employees and was able to double my space in 5 years. Once I realized I had a viable business , my husband and I decided to purchase land to build a shopping center that would be customized to perfectly house my studio for years to come. I occupy 1/4 of the building, and I am proud that the two other spaces are filled with businesses also run by women. It’s now been 27 wonderful years of earning a living doing what I love while building relationships with many long-time customers in the Dallas metroplex.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Most of my journey has been really wonderful, but the biggest struggle happened after 9/11 in 2001. My business was going great, and it seemed as if every family in Dallas wanted a large beautiful family portrait to hang above their mantle. Then suddenly, it seemed like an extravagance. Many of my customers who were business professionals lost their jobs, and I even had a few of them cancel big events. It was a hard time for the photography market and many of my competitors went out of business that year. I was lucky that at that time because I acquired a new private school as a client and was able to make up the loss of the bigger portrait orders with a large quantity of smaller orders from school, sports and ballet photography. I also began photographing high school seniors which was a new clientele for me. Since then my business has continued to grow and we’re projecting a 20% increase this year over last.
Please tell us about Judy Nordseth Photography.
My photography studio specializes in capturing people and furry friends of all ages at their most important milestones. It makes my days incredibly varied as I might photograph a newborn, business executive, puppy and high school senior all in one day. What makes it extra special though is when we photograph a 13-year-old for their Bat or Bar Mitzvah, or a senior for his or her graduation, and receive a call 10 years later that they’d like us to photograph their wedding too! I consider myself blessed to be able to be a part of people’s lives at such memorable occasions.
We also have many companies, such as law and accounting firms and dental offices that count on us to provide their executives with top notch photography. I travel on location to their offices or they come to my studio. For schools, we provide yearbook, sports and senior photography as well as their graduation ceremonies. Individuals come to us for their family photography and many times include their pets. We enjoy our pet lovers so much that we started a subsidiary company called Bosco Pet Photography that specializes in capturing family pets.
I’m very proud of the fact we’ve built up so many relationships with our customers over the past 27 years, but I have been especially honored to photograph many celebrities, including three Presidents of the United Stat es (both President Bushes and President Clinton), several governors, as well as Willie Nelson, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Roger Staubach and Jay Leno, to name a few.
I am also proud that I have been able to run a successful small business while raising three children and being involved in their school activities, supervisor of field trips and room mother when needed. Now I am a grandmother to 7 precious little ones that live all around the country and because I am self-employed, I am able to take time off to go visit them with my husband of 43 years. And of course, every time I visit, my camera is always in my hand!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have learned early on how to hire the best help. I made a few mistakes along the lines in hiring because I generally like most people, I’ve learned that that doesn’t mean they’ll be the best employees and capable of the work we have. I’ve apparently learned that lesson though, because for the past 20 years we’ve had a fabulous staff that has been with me for over 10 years.
Contact Info:
- Address: 17404 Hillcrest Rd. Suite 100
Dallas, TX 75252 - Website: www.judynordseth.com
- Phone: 972-267-8787
- Email: [email protected]
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